Electroplating apparatus.



H. ADERER.

ELECTROPLATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 17. 1915.

l lwfimw Patented July 27, 1915.

3 vwe Mko'c U %T@ PATEN l l@.

nueo annnnn, F BLOOMFIELD, new JERSEY, ASSIGNOR M J. r. JELENKo & com-PANY, A COPARTNERSHIP COMPOSED on JESSE n. JELENKO AND HUGO ADERER, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y.

.ELEGTROPLATING APPARATUS.

Application filed April 17, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGO Annnnn, a citizen of the United States,residing atBloomfield, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ElectroplatingApparatus, of which the following is a full,

clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to electro-plating apparatus particularly adaptedfor use in plating a variety of articles of difi erent shapes and sizes.

In plating a single shape and size of article, the proper platingcurrent and electrode distance is determinable by calculation andexperiment once and for all, but in plating various sizes of articles ofdifferent shapes the apparatus must be capable of ready adj ustment tomeet the varying kinds of work. In dental and j ewelerswork where muchgold plating is done, the conditions vary with each piece of Work and itis important to provide an easy and ready control of the voltage andelectrode distance and to do this with a minimum of time and attentionon the part of the operator.

It is an object of this invention to provide such an electro-platingapparatus by providing adjustable electrode supports in series with alamp rheostat, the resistance setting of which may be observed from theglow of the filaments at a glance. The electrode arms are madeadjustable to vary the relative position of the electrodes and thedistance between them and consequently the resistance of the electrolyteand the rate and character of the metal deposit and it is possible toobserve the amount and character of this adjustment by the varyingglowof the lamp filaments in series with the electrodes. In adapting theapparatus for occasional use with a variety of objects, the electrodesupports have'been made readily movable for the insertion and. removalof the electrodes from the electrolyte and back out of the Way againsttheir support and their adjustable mounting allows the electrolytereceptacle to be supported independently of the board and in no fixedrelation to it. To avoid confusion in making the various adjustments,the movements of the electrodes into and out of the electrolyte arearranged to be made in a vertical planeonly and are distinct from therelative adjustments of the electrodes Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2?, 1915.

Serial No. 21,966.

within the electrolyte made preferably by movement of the anodehorizontally.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus, andFig. 2 is a diagram of the board connections.

The board A of marble or other insulating material is to be fastened invertical position to a wall, and carries on its face the electrodesupports B and C and the lamp rheostat D. The board is provided with apassage (not shown) for the entrance of the supply wires and on its backit is provided with grooves (not shown) for the wires connecting thelamp and electrode arms as shown in Fig. 2.

Either support B or C may serve to carry the anode or cathode plate,Preferably, the arm 13 by its holder jaws 4, 4 supports the proper anodeor supply plate, 5, and the arm C by its jaws 6, 6 supports the hook 7,carrying the article 8, to be plated. The jaws 4, 4, and 6, 6, aresimilar, being arranged to normally spring apart and being contractibleto gripping engagement with the articles they carry by the slide loops 9and 10, respectively. The jaws are fastened at "the upper. .endsin, convenient manner to the insulating handles 13and1'4. The

jaws 4, 4, are pivoted horizontally to the link 15, at 16, and the link15 is pivoted vertically at 17 to the link 18, which latter is pivotedhorizontally, as at 19, to the bracket 20 carried by the board A. Thejaws 6, 6, like jaws 4, 4, are pivoted horizontally, as at 21, to thelink 22 and link 22 is pivoted horizontally at 23 to the link 24,pivoted horizontally at 25 to the bracket 26 carried by the plate A inspaced horizontalrelation to bracket 20.

It is to be understood that, while any of the pivotal connections ofarms B and C may be rigidly set by tightening the proper pivot screw,they are of the adjustable friction type holding their various positionsas set, yet movable by the hand of the operator. The electrode supportsare themselvesof a conducting material, as copper, and the frictionalengagement of the double pivots reducesthecontact resistance betweenthem. Preferably, the support 13 carries the anode and the support O thecathode or article, to be plated, By this arrangement, since thelinkages of support C are movablein a suban al y. ve c l Pl et e nerto'ris ne abled t6 readily withdraw the article for and separate fromthe movement accompanying the insertion and withdrawal of the articleand confusion between the two is avoided. The linkages of each supportallow them to be folded back against the board when not in use and theelectrolyte receptacle E may within certain limits be positioned at anyconvenient distance from the board B and yet be readily accessible tothe electrodes by adjustment of the support links.

At the end of the board A opposite the supports B, C, the plug 29carries the lamp socket 27. This socket is provided with electricalconnections 'for varying the resistance and thereby the current of thecircuit and the intensity of the lamp D. For this purpose, I preferablyemploy a lamp of the well-known Hy-Lo type, having a plurality ofintensities. Thus by using two filaments 30, 31, singly, in series, orin parallel, four intensities can be obtained. The lamp base 28 containssuitable switches for securing these intensities, which are controlledby the cords 32, 33.

It will be seen that rather coarse adjustment of the voltage betweentheelectrodes is provided by the lamp rheostat, and that intermediateadjustments are provided by varying the relative positions of theelectrodes and that these intermediate adjustments'in character; and"extent are readily cyanide of gold and potassium, contained in the,receptacle B positioned on the support F at any. convenient distancewithin the limits of the electrode support links and the two electrodesare adjusted to a proper dis- 7 tance to give an even deposit on thearticle.

The lamp rheostat is set at a resistance to give the voltage necessaryto carry on the plating, at the desiredrate and the current is turnedon, the strength of the glow of the lampindicating approximately thestrength of the current. As the electro-plating pro 7 gresses', thearticle is removedvertically from the electrolyte for inspection and therate as 945 t e deposit ma e w trolled as by re-positioning theelectrodes in the bath by horizontal movement of the anode around pivot17. If for a more even or compact deposit the distance between theelectrodes is increased the filament glow will fade and indicate theamount of the change effected and it will also indicate when the lampresistance is to be decreased to compensate for the increased resistanceof the electrolyte. If a more rapid deposit is allowable, the distancebetween the electrodes may be decreased to increase the current and thisincrease may be gaged by the brightening of the filament glow which willalso indicate when the rheostat resistance must be increased tocompensate for the decreased resistance of the electrolyte.

When not in use the electrolyte receptacle E is removed and the supportsB and G are pushed back against the board A out of the way of theoperator. By simply placing the dish E within reach of the supports Band O and moving the supports to hold the electrodes within theelectrolyte the apparatus is ready for use while the ease with which thearticle may be inspected and the current and consequently the rate ofdeposit, controlled and observed particularly adapt the device for useby dentists, jewelers and others having need of an electro-platingdevice for occasional service, out of the way when not in use, yetreadily accessible and easily and accurately adjustable to various kindsof work.

Having thus described my invention, I declare that what I claim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an electro-plating apparatus, a board, a pair of electrodesupports extend- .observable in -the-varying-glowof th -1a p ingoutwardly therefrom and relatively adustable to vary the current betweenthe electrodes, and a glow device mounted in circuit with said supportsand in position to indicate by its intensity variations in the currentthrough said supports.

2. In an electro-plating apparatus, the combination of a board carryingan electrode support, a second electrode support mounted on said boardfor vertical and horizontal adjustment with relation to the firstsupport and a variable lamp resistance car-- ried by said board forvarying the voltage between the electrodes carried by the supports andindicating the current passing between said electrodes.

7 3. In an electro-plating apparatus, the combination with a supportingboard, of an adjustable outwardly projecting electrode support havingtwo horizontal pivots about which the electrode may swing in adjustmentand a second outwardly projecting adjustable electrode support havingone vertical and one horizontal pivot about which the second electrodemay swing in adjustment.

4. The combination with a board, of outwardly projecting links pivotedthereto, depending anode and cathode terminals carried by said links,and means for varying the distance between said terminals.

5. The combination with a board, of outwardly projecting links pivotedthereto, depending electrode supports oarried by said links, one of saidsupports being adjustable in a substantially vertical plane, and meansfor varying the distance between said sup ports and between saidsupports and the board.

6. The combination with a board, of outwardly projecting links pivotedthereto, a variable resistance lamp mounted on said board and in circuitwith said links, depending electrode terminals carried by said links,and means for varying the distance between said terminals.

7 In an electro-plating apparatus, a

board carrying a contact bracket, a depending electrode support linkedto said bracket to be movable toward and from the board, said electrodesupport comprising an operating handle at its upper end and electrodecarrying means at its lower end.

8. In an electro-plating apparatus, a board carrying a contact bracket,a link pivoted thereon, a second link pivoted to said first link, and adepending electrode sup port intermediately pivoted to said second link,said electrode support having an operating handle at its upper end, andelectrode carrying means at its lower end.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

HUGO ADERER.

Vitnesses:

J. S. Woos'rnn, ARTHUR ALLEN, Jr.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

